


The Cave of Two Lovers

by rose (kagseyamas)



Series: Encounters [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Universe, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, First Kiss, Minor Angst, Mutual Pining, catradora, oh my god they were tomb mates, post S1, vague but it's there, welcome to the magic love cave bitches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 08:18:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16828723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagseyamas/pseuds/rose
Summary: “There’s an inscription at the bottom,” Adora said. “It just says…‘Love will lead the way’.”Catra blinked at her, before looking down at the ‘inscription’. Nope, still looked like a bunch of garbage to her. “Okay?”When she looked back up, Adora’s face was bright red. “I think it could be a clue on how to get out.”It took Catra a few seconds to comprehend what she could mean. Then she shook her head.[Based on the Avatar: the Last Airbender episode of the same name]





	The Cave of Two Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sort of continuation of To Promise, so it might benefit you reading that first (but you don't have to bc it's not a direct continuation). Enjoy!

“Would you just stop following me?”

“I’m not _following_ you.”

“Well, this is the second time I’ve _‘ran into’_ you here this week, so obviously you’re following me,” Adora said, raising an eyebrow. “Stop lurking around my temple.”

Catra scowled, crossing her arms. “It’s not _your_ temple, it’s the First Ones’ temple. And the Whispering Woods is neutral territory, so it’s fair game.” Really. A girl couldn’t scavenge for weapon technology anymore without being disturbed.

“It was built for She-Ra!” Adora argued.

Catra looking around, pretending to search the trees for something before hooking her thumbs into her pockets and leaning back on her heels. “Well I don’t see She-Ra anywhere, I just see a scared little Horde soldier.”

Adora glanced down at her uniform and scrunched up her face, the way she always did when she was angry and frustrated. Catra despised the pang of familiarity it gave her. She wasn’t sure why Adora hadn’t changed clothes already, and it always made her too damn hopeful to see the logo still pinned to her jacket.

Adora opened her mouth to say something, when a roar sounded from the woods. Catra startled, the hairs on her arms, as well as her tail, standing upright. By the time the creature emerged from the trees, Adora was already shouting that stupid thing about Grayskull—what even _was_ Grayskull?—and transforming into She-Ra. So Catra had to eat her words basically.

The creature charged at them, and Adora charged right back. Catra rolled her eyes. Unwilling to stick around to watch a pointless fight and quite sure Adora was going to win anyway, she resumed her circling of the temple, searching for items that could be of use to the Horde.

Once she got to the other side, she heard Adora scream,

“ _What! No!_ ”

When Catra reemerged at the front of the temple, Adora, who was back in her Horde uniform, was standing in front of the monster, looking shell-shocked.

“What?” Catra said.

Adora turned around to her slowly. “It ate. My sword.”

Catra gaped at her. Then, she doubled over laughing. “ _What_? How did you even let that happen?”

“It just—it grabbed it, and _ate_ it!”

The monster, which was practically as big as the temple itself, let out a large belch, its gaze then turning from vacant to focused on them.

“So what now?” Catra said, staring up at the thing.

“We should run.”

“Yep, definitely.”

Catra wasn’t a coward—she could probably take the creature out with her claws alone and get the sword back if she put her back into it. But why would that be her priority? For _Adora’s_ sake? No way, she was looking out for her own tail, and why waste energy fighting some monster when there was a perfectly good escape route available?

They ran with the beast on their trail for what felt like an eternity—each time they though they had outrun it, it found its way back to them. Eventually, they came across a cave at the edge of the woods, the entrance of which was too large for the monster to enter.

“ _In there!_ ” Adora ordered, sprinting towards it.

“I’m going because I want to, not because you told me to!” Catra yelled right back.

“ _Ugh_ , just—come on!”

They skid into the cave, which ended up being the entrance to a long passage way. They walked halfway down the passage way for good measure, to make sure they were completely out of reach as the beast stuck its snout in and roared at them. Adora slumped against the cave wall, panting, and Catra fought not to do the same as the beast finally gave up and walked away, several minutes later.

“Why didn’t you just climb a tree?” Adora said then.

Truth be told, she hadn’t thought of that. But Adora didn’t have to know that.

Catra shrugged. “Where’s the fun in that?” Then, she chuckled. “You lost your sword,” she sang.

“Shut _up_ ,” Adora groaned.

“What’s the matter, Adora? Cranky ‘cos a monster ate your sword?” she leered.

“I should have fed you to it,” Adora said.

“Did it chew it, or swallow it whole?”

“Whole, I think,” she sighed. “I hope.”

Suddenly, Catra noticed a glow of light at the end of the passage way, and stilled, staring at it. The instinct to chase it filled her, but she stayed put. Adora followed her gaze to the light.

“Oh. Do you think there’s another exit around that corner?”

They followed the glow of light, but when they rounded the corner, it was around the next corner.

And the next.

And the next after that.

“I don’t think there’s an exit,” Catra said, already bored. “I'm leaving.”

Adora frowned. “But where’s it coming from? Is there someone in here?” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hello? Anyone in here?”

No answer. But the glow against the walls persisted.

Adora followed the light still, and Catra grumbled before following her through tunnels and passageways, until it stopped moving, and they were at a dead end. A loud rumbling sounded through the cave, and Catra realized, with horror, that the cave walls had shifted, barricading them into the dead end. They were trapped, and the light had just gone out.

Catra’s eyes adjusted to the darkness right away (thank you, cat senses), and she watched Adora run to the wall, hammering at it with her fists.

“ _What the hell!_ I can’t see! What happened?”

Catra watched her in a state of sheer panic, unable to believe that this was the same girl who had just been She-Ra. Maybe this was because she didn’t have her sword, no longer had a safety net. She had never been this weak before—was _this_ what the rebellion taught? Dependency on weapons? Catra was glad she had never gone with them.

“ _Catra_? Are you still there?” Adora said, going quite still.

“I’m here,” she said, walking right up to her and watching her shoulders relax. “It’s fine—I can see. The walls moved, and they look pretty solid. The cave must be cursed, or magic, or something.”

“Is there any other way out?” Adora asked.

Catra looked around again, walking to the end of the hall, and—oh. “There’s a false wall here. I think there’s a room inside.”

Adora followed her voice, tripping over a rock as she walked to the entrance of the room with her hand on the wall. The hole in the cave wall was low, and Catra (begrudgingly) guided Adora through it so she didn’t knock her head on it. The room didn’t seem to have another way out. It was small enough and completely empty, bar one large object in the center of the room.

“What’s that over there?” Catra said, nodding to it.

Adora squinted. “It’s too dark. I can’t make anything out.”

Catra sighed. “It’s like, a stone bench or something—here.” She took Adora’s arm and led her over to the large, raised stone slab, taking her hand to place it on top of it. “See?”

As soon as Adora’s hand touched the stone, the room lit up, startling them both. Catra hissed, covering her eyes as the blinding light muddled her brain, and Adora groaned, shaking her head in order to adjust to the brightness. Looking around, moments later, Catra realized that there was fire burning on torches positioned all around the room of the cave. And that they weren’t standing in front of a bench.

Adora gasped. “It’s a…”

“A tomb,” Catra finished, circling it to get a better look. "Cool." The stone tomb was rested directly in the center of the room, and it was huge—big enough for two people at least, or maybe three very small people. Four babies, if you piled them up, probably. “How’d you do that anyway? Is that a princess thing?”

“I don’t know,” Adora murmured quietly. When Catra looked back at her, she was staring at the lid of the tomb, where there were several indecipherable symbols Catra couldn’t make sense of.

“What’s that?” Catra said, going to stand beside her once again. “Do you know what that is?”

“It’s…it’s First Ones writing,” Adora said quietly, not taking her eyes off the stone.”

Catra’s eyes widened. “Like, the tech people?” She stared at it for a moment or two in silence, mimicking Adora. “I wonder what it says.”

“It’s a story.”

Catra balked. “No way, you can read that thing? Is that a princess thing too?”

“I think it’s just a She-Ra thing.”

“Well, read it out!” Catra ordered, growing impatient.

Adora ran a hand over the carved symbols. “Ok, um…it’s a story about two princesses. It says they were young, and their kingdoms were feuding. But one day they met in the woods and fell in love.” Catra watched the lump in her throat bob. “Every night they met in this cave in secret because they couldn’t bear to be apart, but they couldn’t tell their families.

“One night, one waited for the other, but she didn’t arrive. She had been killed in the feud. The second princess was so stricken by grief that she took her own life. Their families were so horrified at the death of their children that they called a truce and ended the war, burying them in this cave together so that they could be together for eternity.”

She heaved a sigh, and when she looked up at Catra, to her horror, Adora’s eyes were tear-bright. “They were just kids, Catra.”

Catra sucked in a breath, refusing to look at her. “That’s super tragic and all, but how is that going to get us out of here?”

Adora looked back at the tomb. “There’s something else.”

Catra huffed, shooting her a deadpan look. “Well please, indulge me.”

“There’s an inscription at the bottom,” Adora said. “It just says…‘ _Love will lead the way_ ’.”

Catra blinked at her, before looking down at the ‘inscription’. Nope, still looked like a bunch of garbage to her. “Okay?”

When she looked back up, Adora’s face was bright red. “I think it could be a clue on how to get out.”

It took Catra a few seconds to comprehend what she could mean. Then she shook her head.

“I don’t think so. You know what is a great way to break rock, though? Punching. Lots of punching. I’d get on that, if I were you.”

“ _Catra_ —”

Nope. This wasn’t happening. Adora was _not_ saying what Catra thought she was saying. Not while they were in some stupid, dimly-lit… _love cave_.

“I’m _not_ kissing you, Adora!” she yelled, slinking out of the room and to the rock wall, giving it a kick for good measure. She hated how strangled her voice sounded.

Adora, infuriatingly, followed her. “You think _I_ want to?” she said, sounding equally as frustrated. “What if it’s the only way?”

Catra fixed her a determined glare. “I’ll find another way. Since you’re being so _useless_.”

“Why are you being so stubborn?” Adora growled, losing her temper, at last. Good. Catra had missed the part of her that wasn’t a goody-goody. “It’s just a kiss, it doesn’t even have to mean anything!”

“ _I can’t!_ ” Catra yelled, punching the cave wall several more times, hoping that the sound was loud enough to drown out the crack in her voice. She could barely feel the sting in her knuckles, although she was certain they’d split open. Her arms fell to her side as she caught her breath. "I just can't, okay?"

Adora’s lips tightened. “Fine, have it your way. I’ll be in the other room coming up with a plan, if you need me when you finished punching your teen angst out.”

She went back into the torch-lit room, leaving Catra to punch, claw at, kick, and throw rocks at the rock wall, but it didn’t even budge. After what felt like hours, she trudged back into the room, to find Adora carving strategies into the cave wall with a sharp stone.

“There you are,” she said, barely looking over her shoulder. “Okay so, tell me if I remembered anything wrong. So first we took the left tunnel, then the right, there were four tunnels and we took the second to the right, before getting trapped in the left tunnel—”

“Adora,” Catra said, her voice hoarse.

“Now, the cave wall only moved after we entered that passageway out there, so maybe there was like a trigger—”

“Adora—”

“And maybe if we pressed the walls, or I don’t know, jump around a lot, we might trigger the passageway to move again, and if we just reverse the route we took—”

“ _Adora_ ,” Catra yelled, finally silencing her. She went quiet again. “I’ll do it.”

Adora frowned. “Do what?”

“I’ll… _you know_. If you think it’ll get us out.”

Adora’s eyes widened, and her face went insanely red, which made _Catra_ go red. She wished the cave would just collapse and kill them both, already.

“Really?” Adora said. “Are you sure?”

Catra shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, I still hate you, and I’m still going to crush you, once we get out. But yeah.”

Adora smiled. A strand of hair had come loose from the front of her ponytail and she tucked it behind her ear. “Ditto.”

Catra didn’t feel her feet move, but they must have, because when Adora walked towards her, somehow they met in the middle. Despite herself, Catra couldn’t stop her palms from sweating. She tried to calm herself, told herself that it was just Adora. But that was the thing, wasn’t it? It was _Adora_.

Adora, who had broken her heart, all those months ago, Adora who had left behind for another, better life. Adora, whom she had taken for granted for years, and had forced her to confront how empty a bed felt when she was sleeping in it alone. Adora, who had made her heart hurt, even before she’d left. Adora had never had to do anything special, to make her heart hurt.

Now she was in front of Catra, looking down at her ever-so-slightly with wide, blue eyes that made Catra forget they were in a cave with two dead bodies.

“Make it quick,” Catra said, hoping she didn’t sound too shaky.

“Sorry,” Adora said, her laugh hollow and full of nerves, “this wasn’t how I was expecting my first kiss to go.”

If Adora didn’t kiss her soon, Catra was going to combust.

Instead of waiting around for her, Catra took Adora’s face in her hands and just sort of mashed their mouths together. Quite honestly, it wasn’t great, and Catra was sure the angles were all wrong.

Adora pried them apart, and Catra was sure she was going to scold her for being so impatient, or being such a bad kisser, but then she just kissed her again, softer this time, wrapping her arms around Catra’s neck as their lips interlocked. Catra’s hands found her waist, breathing into it, and she vaguely heard the sound of morphing rock, but she chose not to register it, holding onto Adora like the world wasn’t falling to pieces around them.

When their lips broke apart, their foreheads stayed pressed together, and Adora ran a hand through Catra’s hair, startling a purr out of her. She cleared her throat to cover it up, but Adora was already laughing.

“I always loved it when you did that.”

Catra was laughing too, she found, but whether it was in amusement, embarrassment, or just the giddiness from the kiss, she wasn’t sure.

Eventually, though, reality set in, and Catra pulled away, the space where Adora had just been extremely cold. She nodded towards the exit of the room. “We should...go check.”

Adora bit her lip. “Oh. Right.”

Surely enough, the wall of the cave had shifted, opening up to one long passage way, lined by lit torches on each side. It wasn’t one of the ones they had come through, so it must have been a new exit entirely. They shared one shy glance before the began down the passage way in silence, and it only took a minute or two of walking in a straight line for them to come to the exit of the cave.

“I suppose you’re going to try and crush me now?” Adora said, once they were outside.

It was completely dark now, but whether they had been in there for hours or days, Catra was unsure. Catra looked at her, looked at her wide, hopeful eyes. She knew what Adora wanted her to say. _I guess I’m_ not _evil anymore. I’ll come with you to Bright Moon_. She looked away.

“I’ll give you a head start,” she said. “You know. So you can go get your stupid sword back first.”

Adora stared, for a moment or two, before nodding. She took off into the trees, only looking back once, before she disappeared. Catra watched her go with a sigh. She touched a hand to her lips as she walked in the other direction.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed it bc i wrote it in one sitting instead of studying for finals lol. my tumblr is galimmer if you wanna follow me, and pls give this a kudos or a comment if u liked it bc i crave the validation thanks


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